General
Music production today is mainly the domain of DAW software anyway. Supplemented here and there by workstation keyboards, although these are mainly focused on their own engine, where DAW software is a bit more open and colourless. But there is another option: the separate hardware sequencer. Think of the x0x/MPC-style products. But another form is conceivable, and that is the domain of the Torso Electronics T1 sequencer. This is a loose 16-track sequencer/controller in which generators take centre stage. 'Fur Elise' won't go, that's too focused. The T1 is more about interesting procedures, patterns that generate something, something experimental. Let's describe it as the difference between intelligent design and evolution. So using the T1 is primarily a musical voyage of discovery.
Features of the Torso Electronics T1
The core algorithm deals with Euclidean rhythms. It goes a bit far to explain the idea of this in full, but it is about a specific distribution of notes within a specific length. For example, the proportional distribution of five notes in a sixteen-step pattern. It may not seem like a big deal (after all, you can come up with a distribution yourself), but in the T1 this all happens automatically according to this algorithm. And very secretly, mankind has been doing this for thousands of years without being aware of it. Further: apart from the encoders and LED buttons, you don't need anything essential to get the T1 to work either. Everything is hands-on and to-the-point. No display needed, no fuss, the workflow is simple and fast. For the experimental aspect, that's handy. Besides USB-MIDI and 3.5 mm MIDI, there are also CV/gate connectors, and that in turn opens doors to Eurorack. And that in particular is such a good match for the experimental nature of the T1.
For whom?
At first glance, you might be tempted to push the T1 into the experimental corner, and if you're a bit more conventional yourself, is it a match? Well, among the generators there is also support for harmony with keys, so it's not merely some kind of experimental drum machine. If you connect a really nice synth to it, nice reverb on it, and don't go too crazy, you get beautiful soundscapes that you can indeed use in conventional music, for instance New Age. Be sure to watch the videos to see if this particular product suits you.
